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Heating an apartment – Bush Alaska style

It’s officially winter; the snow is falling, the air is crisp and clear and it’s edging toward cold – holding at around 20 degrees now for the past few days. It’s a beautiful time of year, one of my favorites in fact. This year it’s still delightful, but not as much so; you see, usually I have working heat. For some unfathomable reason (and one that has been unexplainable to me by my maintenance man) the radiators in my apartment aren’t working properly. The rest of the school has heat, just not my apartment.

Sadly, Friday ended and he left without getting the heat turned on, leaving me slightly chilly. No worries though! In true Bush fashion, I’ve found a solution that makes it advantageous to live in a small apartment like mine. My oven functions as a space heater when turned on at 550 degrees Fahrenheit! A rather moisture sucking space heater, but an effective one nonetheless.

I’ve been told that he might be able to get it working on Monday. If not though, hey, it’s the Bush and one simply has to accept that heating one’s home can turn into an adventure. (At least I’m not putting a burn barrel by the window and hauling driftwood in to heat the place… yet.)

(Edit: After my principal got phone calls from the Coordinator of Ed Support and the District Superintendent, I feel like I should clarify. Things aren’t that bad for me. I live above the school, so I get a lot of radiant heat – meaning that while a little chilly at times, I’m in no danger of freezing and the problem is being worked on.)

2 thoughts on “Heating an apartment – Bush Alaska style”

I have really enjoyed reading about your experiences. For what it’s worth, aside from enjoyable, they’ve been quite informative. I have been storngly considering teaching in Alaska, soon. For reasons that I surely cannot disclose on a “comment page” I am wondering about the salary and benefits. Please don’t misunderstand my intentions. I am not primarly motivated by a hefty salary, though it is alluring, which is the incentive.. I know the salary is quite a bit higher, but does the cost of living entirely off-set the salary benefits? Gosh, I am sorry this is so long, but I am trying to make some important, difficult decisions in a short period. I would really appreciate your response. Until then, best of luck with the rest of the school year!!